Volksgarten and Theseus Temple - FURTHER INFORMATION

Volksgarten and Theseus Temple - Vienna visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Volksgarten and Theseus Temple' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Wien.

The Volksgarten (People's Garden) form a large triangular open area northwest of Heldenplatz. It opened to the public in 1820. It lies on the site of the old Burgbastei (Palace Bastions) which were destroyed by Napoleon in 1809. The Volksgarten was laid out as a French garden and very popular with nobility, who reserved a part of it for themselves. In 1857 the remaining fortifications were removed and the Volksgarten extended.

The Thessseus-Tempel stands in the middle of the Volksgarten. This was intended to be replica of the Theseion in Athens and was built to house Theseus and the Minotaur by Antonio Canova. The statue was moved to the Kunsthistorisches Museum in 1890 and now the space is mostly empty though sometimes used for temporary exhibitions.

Other items of interest in the Volksgarten include the Rose Gardens, a monument for Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) (1907) by Friedrich Ohmann, and statues of the poets Franz Grillparzer and Karl von Hasenauer.

It is a very short walk across the Volksgarten to the Heldenplatz and Neue Burg. The Parlament stand on the other side of the Ringstrassse that borders the park and the Burgtheater is built on the north end (it used to have a private entrance for the Habsburgs allowing rapid access from the Hofburg).